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Mr Sarkozy is desperate to fix each country’s share of the EU effort before January 1, when the European presidency is passed to the Czech Republic.

The Czechs have promised to use the presidency to scale back environmental demands. President Klaus has publicly questioned the existence of man-made climate change.

In the next few weeks there are likely to be a series of concessions and opt-outs offered to get everyone on board. Most of those trying to wriggle out of the targets are former Iron Curtain countries, which argued yesterday that they had already cleaned up the heavy-polluting industry that they inherited from the communist era.

Mr Tusk said that Poland, along with Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Slovakia, would resist any attempt to railroad the targets through. “We want to build an energy-climate package which poorer EU states can survive,” he said.

Mr Berlusconi directed his anger in particular at the Emissions Trading Scheme, which from 2013 will mean that all big EU industries have to buy permits to emit carbon dioxide in a bidding process. “It is ridiculous that we are selling the right to pollute,” the Italian Prime Minister said.

Mr Sarkozy and José Manuel Barroso, the President of the European Commission, wanted agreement yesterday to ensure that four significant pieces of legislation needed to implement the targets were in place by December. These would set targets for each country’s commitment to boost renewable energy by 20 per cent by 2020; set out how the burden of other carbon dioxide cuts would be taken up by individual countries; enforce the latest version of the Emissions Trading Scheme; and envisage a 20 per cent increase in energy efficiency.

Unable to secure agreement, Mr Sarkozy and Mr Barroso managed to get all 27 nations to sign up to a summit conclusion that merely “confirms its determination to honour the ambitious commitments”. All mention of legislation in earlier drafts was banished and instead it proposed “appropriate responses to the challenge . . . having regard to each member state’s specific situation”.

David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, said that some of the EU leaders were experiencing “buyers’ remorse”.

Robin Webster, Friends of the Earth’s climate campaigner, said: “The EU must continue to resist shortsighted efforts to wreck its plans for tackling climate change – urgent action is essential to safeguard our economy and our environment.”

Sarkozy’s demands

— Cut CO2 emissions by 20 per cent by 2020 compared with 1990 levels (This would rise to 30 per cent if there is a global climate change agreement)

— Ensure that 20 per cent of fuel comes from renewable energy sources by 2020

— Increase energy efficiency by 20 per cent by 2020, and ensure that 10 per cent of transport runs on biofuels by the same year

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